In one sweep both the tiger-problem settled and old men sent to death. The Government of India has declared the steps that will be taken to save tigers. The pivotal measure is to induct retired soldiers. War-veterans are supposed to go inside thick jungles and do pitched battles with poachers. The logic is that they know jungle terrains well. This may not work. The problem that plagues the tigers is not poaching per se; it is poverty which drives people to hunt for export of to oriental markets and Indian animal bazaars. The war veterans deserve rest. Where serving-forest guards are routinely killed by hunters, is it proper to send old men risking their lives? Pat comes the bureaucratic reply: we will only have volunteers, nobody is forcing anyone. With the meager pay our retired soldiers receive, they will feel forced by their economic conditions to join this deadly hunt. This plan for saving tigers has been hatched by the by the government-run Wildlife Institute of India, which the Prime Minister chairs. It is part of a two-year survey on India’s tigers.
There are hardly any tigers left in areas which are not reserved-forests and about 1500 are struggling to just survive. This is down from 3600 at last count about five years earlier. Yahoo News reports that Belinda Wright, the director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, is weary of the whole project.
Other measures which are highly human unfriendly call for immediate relocation of forest-dwelling villagers. This in spite of the fact that sociologists have repeatedly pointed out that forest people hardly destroy forests. If they cut trees, their tribal laws compel them to aggressively reforest. If they are ordered out of their traditional homes, we have more trouble. They will most certainly start hating the tiger more for making them homeless. Also, there will be human tragedies when they will lose their cultural and ethnic identities. The forest folk of Bengal’s Sundarbans where the Royal Bengal Tiger roams have tigers for deities and like the Bishnois who protect their deer, these people are more eager to protect their vanishing tigers than any government bureaucrat who has never ventured alone in a jungle. Lastly, the greatest flaw with this report is the delay in its preparation and release. Two years is a long time to kill all the tigers in India. It is now normal for most in the government to delay everything except receiving their salaries. The report also envisages more red-tapeism by appointing a senior police officer to head the new Wildlife Crime Bureau. It seems that the plan to save tigers is a concerted effort to sideline major issues, thwart public scrutiny by continually using babudom jargon and having elaborate meetings with fanfare. The report is about the achievements of the Government machinery, not on the plight of tigers.
Via: Yahoo News
Image: Nature Trek
